A Cuban national, according to unofficial reports, threatened to kill a Mexican journalist who was covering a fatal accident on August 14 in Cancún, Quintana Roo. The confrontation was recorded on video and quickly circulated on social media, where it generated numerous reactions.
“Be careful filming me, be careful filming me or I’ll kill you,” the man is heard saying as he confronts the journalist on Bonampak Avenue, according to Heraldo de México Quintana Roo. Another version of the incident that circulated includes a second threat: “Delete whatever you have of me or I’ll kill you.”
The journalist continued recording and referred to the individual as Cuban, although no authority has officially confirmed his nationality so far.
“This Cuban man is acting arrogantly toward other people, the other colleagues… he’s acting hostile, as always, and he’s not even in his own country,” the reporter said on camera during the altercation.
The images show that the man was at the scene where several journalists were covering the accident. There is no information establishing that he had any connection to the driver involved in the crash.
The threat occurred precisely while the journalists were documenting a serious traffic accident that left one woman dead and at least two other people injured.
According to reports on the case, a white Honda SUV was traveling at excessive speed along Bonampak Avenue when its driver lost control, went onto the central median, knocked down a streetlight pole, and traveled more than 50 meters before colliding with another vehicle near Plaza Península.
A woman who was getting out of the vehicle that was struck died at the scene, despite paramedics’ efforts to save her.
Local media reported unofficially that the driver who allegedly caused the accident was a Cuban doctor from the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and that he was allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol. No authority has confirmed his nationality, profession, or the latter circumstance.
He is also a different person from the man seen threatening the journalist in the video, an important distinction given that both stories have been circulating in connection with the same incident.
The attempt to prevent cameras from recording the alleged aggressor ended up having the opposite effect. While he was threatening the reporter, other people present also recorded the confrontation, which helped the images spread widely on social media.
So far, no formal complaint or legal action against the man over the threats has been publicly reported.
The episode comes amid a particularly sensitive environment for the Cuban community living in Cancún, after other incidents involving Cuban citizens have generated controversy and, at the same time, expressions of rejection that civil organizations have denounced as discriminatory.
One of the most high-profile cases occurred on May 28 in Supermanzana 23, when a Cuban citizen identified as Rigoberto “N” was accused of assaulting a Mexican man during a dispute that began after a dog that was not on a leash bit someone.
The video of that confrontation went viral, and tensions escalated until approximately 200 people gathered outside the Cuban couple’s home, throwing rocks and bottles. Both individuals were subsequently placed at the disposal of the National Institute of Migration.
Following the disturbances, the couple’s home was severely damaged, while civil organizations such as CISVAC warned of reports of discrimination against other Cubans who had nothing to do with the altercation, including cases involving rejection from jobs and rental properties, insults in public spaces, and signs displaying messages such as “Cubans not accepted.”
In response to the situation, the government of Quintana Roo called for people to avoid reprisals and not generalize individual behavior to the entire Cuban community.
The presence of Cuban citizens in the state is significant and has also become more visible due to the arrival of healthcare professionals. In February 2026, the IMSS-Bienestar program had 173 Cuban doctors assigned to rural areas of Quintana Roo, as part of the bilateral agreement supported by the government of Claudia Sheinbaum, which maintains approximately 3,650 Cuban professionals distributed across 23 Mexican states.
The new episode once again places Cuban citizens at the center of public discussion in Cancún, but it occurs in a context where individual responsibility and nationality must be kept separate. The threats recorded in the video correspond to the conduct of one man whose Cuban origin also remains officially unconfirmed, and they cannot be attributed to an entire community that has itself reported episodes of hostility and discrimination in recent months.
Source: cibercuba
